Study reveals worst time of the day to be a parent

• Peak parental stress hits at 5.08pm every day
• Revealed – the 70 minute ‘perfect storm’ that sends parents into meltdown
• Parents have to repeat themselves 11,000 times during the ‘perfect storm’ every year
• Mums and Dads spend a total of six months (177 days) of their lives feeding, bathing and putting children to bed~
   

Early evening is the worst time of day to be a parent, with peak parental stress levels hitting at 5.08pm*, according to a major new study published today by Privilege Insurance.

The study, carried out amongst parents with children aged up to ten, found that the triple whammy of mealtime, bathtime and bedtime, which when combined took an average of an hour and ten minutes, created a ‘perfect storm’ that was likely to send parents into meltdown.

During these 70 minutes, 85 per cent of the parents surveyed had to repeat the same instructions up to 30 times, in a dedicated effort to get their kids to do what is asked of them. This equates to parents having to repeat themselves almost 11,000 times a year** just to feed, bath and put their kids to bed.

Furthermore, the research found that before each child even reaches the age of 10, parents spend an astonishing six months (177 days) of their lives***, going through the feeding, bathing and bedtime routine.

The “Privilege Family Report” revealed that the early evening antics start just two minutes and fifty one seconds into mealtimes, making it one of the most challenging parts of the day.

For those who selected dinner time as a worst moment of theirs, fussy kids refusing to finish what’s on their plate (75 per cent), not remaining seated at the table (66 per cent) and fighting or arguing (63 per cent) were cited among the most common causes of dinnertime troubles, with kids more focused on talking than eating, a problem for almost half (45 per cent).

Unsurprisingly bathtime, was also on the list of parental challenges, with issues arising within just 60 seconds for two thirds (66 per cent) of the parents questioned, with nearly one in six (14 per cent) parents saying it was one of most stressful parts of the parental day.

Bedtime might be the last leg of a long day but getting children into bed and off to sleep is still one of the toughest tasks, cited by a quarter (24 per cent) of parents, with 95 per cent of parents saying their children take up to an hour to fall asleep. 

Almost two thirds (62 per cent) of parents had to make up to five trips in and out of the bedroom in before their offspring finally dropped off, with the most common excuses for not going to sleep including: ‘I’m not tired’ (45 per cent), ‘I need a drink’ (44 per cent) and ‘my tummy or head hurts’ (30 per cent), with over one in five (22 per cent) even saying they were scared.

The school run 

The study also revealed the other challenging parts of every day parenting life, with the school run being voted one of the hardest activities for parents (cited by 17 per cent), with 65 per cent leaving packed lunches, PE kits or homework at home and 45 per cent accidentally dropping their kids off on a holiday day. 

The mission typically starts to go awry in less than two minutes for almost three quarters (71 per cent) of parents, and nearly half (43 per cent) have even accidentally set off with a child's belongings still on the car roof.

En route, the despairing parent may also discover that in all the excitement they have also managed to leave their own work bag at home (45 per cent).

Getting kids to do their homework is another hurdle, cited by 29 per cent of parents, with a third (33 per cent) of parents saying bad behaviour ensues in under a minute given half a chance.

The slightest effort on their part to do their schoolwork must be rewarded with fulsome praise and three quarters (74 per cent) of parents that find ensuring homework is done as a worst moment admit they have resorted to bribes, which range from extra time on the games console (51 per cent), a new game or toy (42 per cent) to extra pocket money (36 per cent) and a day out at the weekend (35 per cent). 

A family day out

But travelling on a day out is almost as fraught (cited by 16 per cent), with most trips likely to go wrong in under two minutes for the majority of parents. 

Common reasons for long suffering parents seeing their visions of an idyllic day out or holiday dissolve in front of their eyes include kids fighting in the back (68 per cent), repeatedly asking 'are we there yet?' (63 per cent) and needing the loo (53 per cent). 

Seventy one per cent said the cause of the back seat fighting was kids scrapping over which seat they get to sit in, and four in five (80 per cent) admitting to their kids fighting over having to share a screen of some type, with iPads the most fought over device (62 per cent), followed by a parent’s Smart Phone (61 per cent) and the family Kindle (59 per cent). 

The weekly shop

Supermarkets are apparently major danger zones too, as shopping with the kids stresses out 29 per cent of parents, with six out of 10 parents claiming their kids causing trouble in less than five minutes.

Half (48 per cent) of parents surveyed say they have lost their children at least once whilst in the supermarket, and while their little one is throwing a tantrum on the floor, two thirds (65 per cent) of parents surveyed have admitted to completely ignoring them. 

Not so relaxing leisure time

Keeping kids entertained ought to be easy, but the daily task has been cited by a quarter (23 per cent) as one of the worst moments of being a parent, with activities typically thrown into turmoil in under five minutes for almost half of parents (44 per cent). 

Instead, it is possible they will watch TV, spend endless hours on an iPad and playing on games consoles. 

Eating out with children is not much easier, picked by 22 per cent of parents as the most challenging and prone to problems.

Once in a restaurant, the kids will almost inevitably irritate other diners by wandering around noisily (59 per cent), making a mess (65 per cent), dropping their toys on the floor (40 per cent) and declining to eat the food ordered for them (40 per cent).

Just getting children dressed to go out can be an almighty effort, cited by 17 per cent, as youngsters play up within two minutes and 55 seconds of starting the task.

The report has revealed that two in three (68 per cent) adults cite their child ‘doing the star fish’, making it impossible to thread their tiny arms through even the baggiest of sleeves. 

Embarrassing moments

Embarrassing their mums and dads with loud, inappropriate comments and giving away parents’ saucy secrets to teachers and grandparents would appear to be common too.

Gems recalled with horror by mums and dads include a child asking 'why is that man so fat?' in a doctor's surgery and telling a teacher about their parents' preferred underwear.

Another child pulled off Santa's beard in a Christmas grotto while another proclaimed angrily that their parents’ friend’s food was ‘disgusting!’, pointedly asking which brand of sausages they were. ****

Taken from the “Privilege Family Report”, the full list of the most challenging moments for parents is as follows:

Top 20 Worst Moments for Parents
Source: Privilege Family Report. 

Rank Top Worst Moments
1 Being woken up early in the morning
2 Tidying up after your child(ren)
3 Your child(ren) waking you up in the middle of the night
4 Making your child(ren) do their homework
5 Grocery shopping with your child(ren)
6 Making your child(ren) clean their room
7 Bed time
8 Keeping your child(ren) entertained
9 Eating out in restaurants
10 A child’s birthday party
11 Dinner time
12 Getting your child(ren) dressed
13 Dropping your child(ren) off at school/nursery
14 Family days out
15 Going on a family holiday
16 Picking your child(ren) up from school/nursery
17 Bath time
18 Child(ren)’s nap time – morning
19 Child(ren)’s nap time – afternoon
20 My children fighting

The 'Privilege Family Report' also revealed the stress levels produced when dealing with kids, with 85 per cent of mums and dads both saying that childcare leaves them feeling stressed up to 10 times a day. 

Charlotte Fielding, head of car insurance at Privilege, adds: “We carried out the Privilege Family Report to help us to better understand our customers’ lives and, as a busy mum myself, the results really ring true. 

“It’s comforting to know that these daily stress points – however humorous – are something that we’re all subjected to as parents. It’s with this in mind why we work hard to keep our policies and procedures as simple as possible – because life doesn’t need to get any more complicated.” 


        ENDS

For more information, please contact: Fran Langdon or Stephanie Weekes at Van Communications: fran.langdon@vancomms.com / stephanie.weekes@vancomms.com / 020 3179 0720

Note to editors

Research carried out by Opinium in an online survey of 1,012 UK Parents with children aged 10 and under from 20th to 24th March 2015

*Calculated by mean average time parents are most stressed in the evening
** Calculated by up to 30 repetitions per day x 365 days in a year = 10,950
***Calculated by (70 minutes per day x 365 days) / 60 minutes in an hour / 24 hours in a day = 177
**** Independent desk research carried out by Van Communications in March 2015
***** Indicative only due to low respondent base level

About Privilege

Privilege Insurance specialises in car insurance for safe drivers. It also offers home insurance and breakdown cover by phone or on-line.

Privilege general insurance policies are underwritten by U K Insurance Limited, Registered office: The Wharf, Neville Street, Leeds LS1 4AZ. Registered in England No 1179980. U K Insurance Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. 

Privilege and U K Insurance Limited are both part of Direct Line Insurance Group plc.   
Customers can find out more about Privilege’s products or get a quote by calling 0845 246 0515 or visiting www.privilege.co.uk